By combining new studies of the surface topography and the emission characteristics of particles during interaction of ultra-short-laser radiation with surfaces, in particular during laser ablation, three different types of general processes (sub 100 fs electronic processes like Coulomb explosion (CE) or field ion emission by surface optical recti. cation (SOR), processes related to electronic plasma (FEP) formation (typically a few hundred fs time scale) and thermal ablation (TA)) could be identified to explain ultra-short-laser ablation of matter at laser intensities around the ablation threshold. In particular, the identification of the unique appearance of individual, localized nano-hillocks, typically a few nm in height and with a diameter below typically 50 nm, can be regarded as characteristic for a strong localized potential energy deposition to the electronic system resulting in CE or SOR. The observation and possibility of CE even on metals has implications beyond the field of laser ablation. A remarkable result observed concerns the similarities between laser ablation and sputtering with highly charged ions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.